32 Leaves
| 32 Leaves | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Genres |
Hard rock Post-grunge |
| Years active | 2001 – 2009 |
| Labels |
Double Blind Music Universal Records 32 Leaves Music |
| Associated acts | Parabelle, Codec |
| Website | www.32leaves.com |
| Past members |
Greg Allen Norris Mike Lopez Trey Thompson Mike Chavez Aron Orosz Barrett Gardner |
32 Leaves was a five-piece hard rock/post-grunge music group from Phoenix, Arizona, United States. After releasing their first full album Welcome to the Fall in 2005, they were able to attract major label support from Universal Records. However, plans fell through and they ended up releasing their second album, Panoramic, independently on March 15, 2009.
History
Formation and Fik'shen EP (2001-2004)
The band formed back in 2001 and played locally in Arizona for their first few years. Their first formal release of music was in 2003 with the Fik'shen EP. The release had five tracks; the first three tracks, "Overflow", "Makeshift", and "Sudden Change", would later be reworked and re-recorded later for their first LP, Welcome to the Fall, in 2005. The other two tracks, "Bruised and Break" and "Dissolved", had a different, softer sound than the majority of the rest of their work, and were never reworked. Additionally, the track "Interlude to Addiction", from Welcome to the Fall, is also on the EP, but as an intro to "Makeshift" rather than a separate track by itself.
Welcome to the Fall (2005-2006)
In 2005, 32 Leaves recorded and mixed their debut album Welcome to the Fall with Larry "Love" Elyea of Bionic Jive fame, at The Salt Mine and Mind's Eye Digital. The album included artwork from friend and artist Jon McLaughlin (not the singer from Indiana) inside the album jacket.
In the same year, they also contributed a cover of The Smashing Pumpkins song "Zero" for The Killer in You: A Tribute to Smashing Pumpkins.
Welcome to the Fall was released on September 6, 2005, on Double Blind records, a minor record label. In the following years, the band supported the album and toured with such acts as 10 Years, Crossfade, Dredg, Evans Blue, Fair to Midland, Smile Empty Soul, and Trapt.
Panoramic (2007-2009)
Due to the extensive touring in support of Welcome to the Fall, they were able to attract the support of a major record label, Universal Records. 32 Leaves recorded two singles, a new version of "All Is Numb" and new song "Way Beyond", in October 2007, collaborating with famed producer Elvis Basquette. The band released the songs on iTunes shortly thereafter, as a preview of what they were working on.
Not much was heard from the band until December 2008, when a number of things occurred. First, it became known that the band had parted ways with Universal Records. Despite this, they were still determined to release their music, as they decided to continue without the support of a major record company. The band converted a three-story house into a recording studio, with singer Greg Norris engineering. The band spent five months writing and recording. It has been reported that turmoil within the group began mid-process of these "house sessions". The band completed the record in December 2008. In an online interview Greg Norris stated that "the Universal Records experience was not what we were accustomed to, we had day to day contact with the smaller label, I didn't talk to any Universal people at all".
32 Leaves previewed a new song on their MySpace, titled "Sideways". It was a rough mix of a song for the new album. It was said to be the first song they recorded after completing their 2005 CD Welcome to the Fall. They also had plans to preview one more "rough mix" from the album that month, but those plans fell through. However, the following month they streamed the album version of the track "Human".
Lastly, at the end of the month, they announced that the album had been entitled Panoramic, inspired by a photo that was included in the rear-panel artwork for the record. The album was released March 15, 2009. The album art features a large black beetle crawling on a green leaf. Signed- copy pre-orders shipped one or two weeks before. The band had the freedom to do this with releasing the album independently. The track listing showed that the new version of "All Is Numb" was cut from the release, and that the version of "Way Beyond" was an alternate version than the 2007 release, both confirmed with the album's actual release.
While the band toured some in 2009 in support of the album, they disbanded amicably in 2010.
Former members
- Greg Allen Norris − vocals
- Mike Lopez − guitar
- Mike Chavez − guitar
- Aron Orosz − bass
- Barrett Gardner − drums
Discography
Albums
- Fik'shen [EP] (2003)
- Welcome to the Fall (2005)
- Panoramic (2009)
Singles
- "All Is Numb" (2005)
- "Blood on My Hands" (2005)
- "Never Even There" (2005)
- "Way Beyond" (2007)
- "Human" (2009)
Side projects
- Greg Norris has provided vocals on Kevin Matisyn's song "Bad Times".
- Norris also produced Parabelle's double-album A Summit Borderline/A Drop Oceanic.
- As of 2011, lead singer Greg Norris is in a new band called Codec.[1] Codec released an EP in early 2012. They then released a full-length album, Horizontime on November 30, 2012,[2][3] which included all five songs from the EP and nine new tracks.[4]